ACU Builds on America’s Heritage of Christian Higher Education

I was able to spend some time on the East Coast this summer, and was reminded again of our nation’s deep foundation of Christian faith.

During my trip I visited a number of historic colleges, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Amherst. The consistent connection between these academically prestigious universities is the strong foundation each had in Jesus Christ and in preparing Christian leaders for service in the world. All have departed from that heritage, yet you can hardly escape their Christ-centered foundation because it is inscribed on the walls and monuments of these schools.

At Yale we found an entire building whose interior was a tribute to those Yale students and faculty members who died in America’s wars – but at the same time an entire wall was dedicated to Yale’s Christian missionaries who were killed on the mission field. At Harvard, we saw the famous statue depicting the school’s namesake and founder, with an open Bible on his lap. The Amherst campus includes a prominent statue of school founder Noah Webster, who created the American dictionary, and who famously said, “Education is useless without the Bible.” Amherst – now considered one of the top private colleges in the country — was so conservative and so committed to Scripture that it had difficulty receiving accreditation in the 19th century from the state of Massachusetts.

At Princeton, in their enormous chapel we discovered this “Prayer for Princeton” – a prayer much more relevant for Arizona Christian University than any Ivy League school today:

“O Eternal God The Creator and Preserver Of all mankind we beseech Thee To bestow upon this university Thy Manifold gifts of grace Thy Truth to those who teach Thy Laws to those who learn Thy Wisdom to those who administer And Thy steadfastness to all Who bear her name Bind us together by these Gracious influences of Thy Spirit Into that fellowship Which can never fail the company Of Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.”

Our nation has an amazing Christian heritage, and Christian higher education is a significant and vital element of that tradition. God has raised up Arizona Christian University, in this generation, to help produce leaders who will restore Christ to the center of our culture and nation, rather than lurking in embarrassment at the periphery.

If you are a student interested in bringing the influence of Christ into our lost and hurting world, we hope you will consider joining what God is doing at Arizona Christian University!